EasyJet passengers climb 25% in September

EasyJet today said summer changes to its network helped it boost passenger numbers by a quarter last month.

The carrier said cuts in services to several European cities and the introduction of new routes had fuelled a 25% rise in passengers in September to 2,355,324 against 1,891,184 during the equivalent month a year ago.

The group’s load factor – how full its aircraft were – climbed by one percentage point to 86.9%.

EasyJet has cut flights to Swiss financial hub Zurich and reduced capacity to Copenhagen and Amsterdam as part of an ongoing programme to drive down costs.

However, it has combined that with the launch of 16 new routes and nine new destinations since the start of August. EasyJet is planning new services to Cork, Shannon and Knock.

In a trading update today, it repeated the forecast it made last month that it expected pre-tax profit for the year to top £60m (€86m), 16% up on last year and higher than the £52m (€75m) it predicted in June.

The airline experienced better trading in the final quarter after a downturn caused by higher oil prices and tough competition.

Chief executive Ray Webster described the airline’s performance in September as “solid”.

The airline plans to increase the number of aircraft in its fleet by about 16% in 2005 – less than the 24% rise previously planned.